NCC appoints ex-Homeland Security agent as top lawyer

Louis Skenderis

National Check and Currency (NCC) has hired Louis Skenderis, previously a special agent at Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), as its first general counsel.

Skenderis joined the firm at the start of December from HSI, which is the main investigatory arm of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), having moved from Los Angeles to NCC’s headquarters in Aventura, Florida. A spokesperson for the department declined to comment. 

As general counsel for NCC ‒ which offers legal, compliance and technology services to money service businesses (MSBs) ‒ Skenderis oversees operations to ensure the company’s financial activities are conducted in a lawful manner. He will also serve as part of a new client acquisition team to guarantee that banking customers presented by NCC are well capitalized and compliant with state and federal laws and regulations, according to the company.

Skenderis served as an HSI special agent for more than nine years, conducting criminal investigations involving money laundering, investment fraud, bank fraud, unlicensed and illegal MSBs and other offenses involving the Money Laundering Control Act, Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and the USA Patriot Act.

Before that, he worked at the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), NCC states. During his time with FinCEN, Skenderis worked in the office of investigative support alongside federal, state and international law enforcement and intelligence officials to exploit BSA data and uncover the activities of terrorist financing networks and other global criminal organizations.

He later transferred to the regulatory policy and programs division, where he drafted anti-money laundering (AML) regulations and composed administrative guidance to MSBs pertaining to the BSA.

‘NCC’s banking partners will appreciate the insight I bring from my regulatory work at FinCEN and my criminal case work at Homeland Security as it pertains to [AML] issues and the check-cashing industry,’ Skenderis says in a statement. ‘This insight will help NCC and its banking partners create workable MSB solutions that benefit both our financial institutions and our clients.’